Adjustable tie-plate.



T. MANEY.

j ADJUSTABLE TIE PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 21, 1910.

1M1? 124 Patented July 8,1913.

I g 5 4 M if if 'rHomfAs MANEY, OFLOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

dDJ'USTABLE TIE-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 21, 1910. Serial No. 598,526.

To all whom it may concern? Be it known that I, THoMAsMANEY, a citizenof the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jeflerson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Adjustable Tie-Plates, of which the following is'aspecification. Y p

. My invention relates to an improvement in tie plates and railfastenings to be use in connection therewith.

This tie plate is intended for use more particularly along the generalline of unbroken track for the purpose of protecting theties and ofrestoring the proper distance between the rails without the necessity ofremoving the tie plate from the "tie. It varies from the ordinary typeof tie plate now in use, in that it permits of the adjustment of-therail upon the tie plate, and thereby avoids the necessity of shifting ormoving the tie plate upon the tie for ad usting the rails laterally.

The great objection to the ordinary tie plate is that the tie becomesweakened from driving the spikes into the tie, and thereby prevents thetie plate from being firmly held upon the tie. It is not generallynecessary to move a rail to any great distance in a lateral direction;therefore the shifting of the ordinary tie plate would require only aslight movement longitudinally of the tie,

- and therefore the spikes to be driven through the tie plate very closeto the holes previously formed by the spikes before the adjustment ismade. This objection is overcome by my invention, as my tie plates arearranged so that wedges can be received between the base flange of therail and the ends of-the tie plate, and in this way, one wedge can beloosened and the other driven on to the tie plate, thereby forcing therail laterally in the'direction desired.

* When a locomotive or train is standing upon the rails, the rails .areslightly. depressed or deflected from a straight line of surfaceimmediately below the bearing of each wheel, due to the flexibility ofthe rail, and to the more or less elastic nature of the ground on whichthe track is laid. This deflection of the rail under the load results inthe unweighted parts of the rail, or the parts between the wheels,takipgb a reflex or slightly elevated position." 1 en the wheels thewave motion of the rails.

are set in motion, each point in the length of the rails assumesalternately the depressed and elevated position, or in other words, anundulating or wave motion takes place under moving trains, which iscommonly known as This is more or less pronounced, owing to the Weightof rolling load, solidity of'foundation. and stiflness of the rail. Therange of this vertical movement is slight, but acts with irresistibleforce. The result is that the spikes which fasten'the rails to the tiesare withdrawn from the ties to the extent of this movement. Therefore ifa tie plate is not used, the tie will become worn from the constantvibration of the rail, and it is to overcome this difliculty that tieplates are used. Even when tie plates are used, if the tie plates andrails are fastened directly to the tie by the same fastening means, thefastening means will be raised by the constant wave motion of the railsand the tie plates will cause the ties to become worn by the cutting ofthe ties by the tie plates. The whole office of a tie plate is toprotect the tie from mechanical wear, and to hold the rails securely intheir proper relation to each other. The tie plate when inserted andfastened securely to the tie receives the impact and grinding action ofthe rail, due to the wave motion of the rail, butif the rail is notindependently Patented July 8, 1913. p

connected so that the tie plate will be prevented from moving, the tiewill be subjected to wear by the tie plate cutting into the tie.

It is therefore my object to provide a tie plate which, when fastened tothe tie, will be held firmly upon the tie, and not distain novelfeatures of construction and combinations of parts which will behereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims I 3 Inthe accompanying drawings -F1gure 1 is a top plan viewshowlng theinvention applied to a tie, Fig. 2 is an end view of the tie plate; Fig.3 is a top plan view of the tie plate with the rail removed; Fig. 4 is aperspective view of the clip, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of thelocking block or lock.

. A, represents the tie plate which is of rolled steel preferably, andprovided with shoulders 1, l. Ribs 2, 2, are provided on the under sideof the plate which areadapted to be sunk into the tie. The plate ispreferablyrolled in long bars, and sheared diagonally instead of atright angles, giving it the proper angle for the wedges 3, 3, which areused in connection with the tie plate for locking the rail B upon theplate, one wedge extending in one direction and the other wedgeextending in the opposite direction, so that the rail will be firmlyheldand permitting the rail to be adjusted laterally with respect to thetie plate. The

wedges engage the edges of the base flange The screw-bolts'pass throughthe shoulders of the rail, and one edge of each shoulder 1. Each wedgeis provided with notches or indentations 4, of about one-fourth Q) inchin depth. Holes are provided through the shoulders of the tie platethrough which screw-bolts 5, 5,- extend. A groove 6 is formed on eachshoulder and extends lengthwise of the shoulder. Received in the groovesare locking blocks'or locks 7, which are provided with openings 8through which the screw-bolts 5 pass, whereby the locking blocks will befirmly held upon the tie plate when the bolts 5 are driven into theties. Lugs 9 are formed on the blocks 7 and are received in theindentations or notches 4 of the wedges 3 for holding the wedges frommovement, and thereby. preventing the wedges from moving, longitudinallyafter having been fastened in position by the lugs. Steel clips 10 areprovided with openings 11 through which screw-bolts 12 extend.

l of the tie plate and cause the flexible steel clips to be held firmlyupon the shoulders of the tie plate, and .u on the base flange of therail, one edge 0 each clip being received in the groove 6 of theshoulders, and the other edge being received upon the base flange of therail. The bolts 5 and 12 pass loosely through the tie plate. Thereforeany upward lift of the rail is imparted to the tie and not to the plate,for the reason that the flexible clips 10 are so arranged that theupward pull of the rail with the' screw spikes 12 as fulcrums forces theplate to a closer adherence to the tie, instead of raising the tie plateupon the upward movement or lift of the rail, due to the wave motionimparted to the rail by a passing train.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a tie plate having shoulders thereon adapted toreceive a rail between the shoulders, wedges received between theshoulders and rail for locking the rail in position, and locking blocksconnected to the tie plate engaging the wedges for holding them'onlyagainst movement.

2. The combination with a tie plate and rail, of shoulders on the tieplate, wedges received between the shoulders and rail for holding therail at any position upon the tie plate, and means engaging the tieplate and rail whereby, upon any vertical movement of the rail, the tieplate will be forced into closer contact with the tie. 3. Thecombination with a tie-plate an rail and means for rigidly fastening thetie-plateto a tie, of resilient means for connecting the rail andtieplate, the ends of said means resting solely upon said parts, andfastening devices extending approximately centrally through said meansand into the tie whereby to compress the means and maintain the verticalrelationship between rail and tie.

4:- The combination with a tie plate having shoulders thereon adaptedtoreceive a rail therebetween, of wedges received between the shouldersand rail for locking the rail in position, said wedges having notchesformed therein, and locking blocks connected to the tie plate havinglugs engaging the wedges for holding them against movement, said lockingblocks engaging and holding only the wedges against movement.

5. The combination with a tie plate and rail, of shoulders on the tieplate, wedges received between the shoulders and rail for holdingtherail in position upon the tie plate, resilient clips engaging the tieplate and rail, and a bolt passing through the clip and tie plate forholding the clip in position upon the rail and tie plate, said boltacting 6. The combination with a tie plate, of a convexly oval springclip, one end of which is adapted to bear on the tie plate and the othersolely on the rail base, the clip having an opening through the center,and a bolt extending through said opening and plate beneath the head ofwhichthe center of the clip bears resiliently.

7. The combination with a rail, tie, and tie-plate, of an elastic orresilient clip of arched or convex form, one end adapted to engagethetie-plate and the other the base of a rail, and a screw which passesthrough the clip and tie-plate into the tie so thatthe contact of theclip with the head of the screw is always at the center or axis of thescrew, the clip being designed and adapted to maintain the propervertical relationship between'the rail and tie.

8.' The combination wlth a tie, tie-plate, and rail, of an elastic orresillent clip of noe'mee convex form making contact at one end with therail and at the other end with the tie plate, and a screw passingthrough the clip and tie-plate into the tie, the head of and rail, thetie plate having a shoulder thereon, and a wedge inserted and heldbetween the shoulder and the adjacent edge of the rail base, of a convexor arch shaped resilient clip independent of the wedge and resting atone end on the base of the rail and at the other end on the tie-plate,and a screw passing through the clip and tie-plate into the tie andadapted to compress the clip at a point more or less midway between itsends whereby to simultaneously insure a constant pressure of the railupon the tie plate, and the tie plate upon the tie 10.. The combinationwith a tie, tie-plate, and rail, of a clip and a screw extending throughthe clip and tie plate into the tie, said clip convex in formandresiiient, and

resting at one end on the rail and at the other endon the tie-plate, theclip by reason t lt of its convexity maintaining the strain at thecenter or axis of the screw.

11. The combination with a rail, tie-plate, and tie, of a resilient clipof convex form resting on one end on the tie-plate and at the other onthe rail, and a screw extending through the clip and tie-plate into thetie, said clip by reason of its convexity and resiliency automaticallyeornpensating for wear or settlement of the tie plate, and alwaysmaintaining the proper close contact of the parts, x

12, The combination with a tie-plate and a rail, of means for rigidlyfastening the tie-plate to a tie, a bolt or screw extending through theplate int-e the tie, and a convexly oval clip inserted between thetiep'late, rail-base and head of the bolt or screw, the arched centerthereof bearing yieldingly upward against the head off the bolt orscrew,

lin testimony whereof aiiix iny signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

' THQMAS MAN Witnesses:

J. B, READ, Woreanr,

